Assignment 2 - Part I - Questionnaire

Dear Grader: I certainly don't expect anyone to read all this. I put this work into it hoping it will make writing the first draft of my new novel easier, as I was stuck. I think it will help a lot. I feel like I sure pay Ms. McWrede - lol.

Dave


Assignment:


Short Answer: Author Patricia C. Wrede provides a list of significant questions for potential writers of speculative fiction at
http://www.sfwa.org/writing/worldbuilding1.htm

There are seven categories here:

The World
Physical and Historical Features
Magic and Magicians
People and Customs
Social Organisations
Commerce, Trade, and Public Life
Daily Life



Read over the introductory page and look at the questions in each category; then choose ONE question from each category and answer it with a view to the story or book chapter you will write for your final assignment. Be sure to identify the main category and the subcategory for the questions you are answering.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Assignment:


Short Answer: Author Patricia C. Wrede provides a list of significant questions for potential writers of speculative fiction at
http://www.sfwa.org/writing/worldbuilding1.htm

There are seven categories here:
The World
Physical and Historical Features
Magic and Magicians
People and Customs
Social Organizations
Commerce, Trade, and Public Life
Daily Life



Read over the introductory page and look at the questions in each category; then choose ONE question from each category and answer it with a view to the story or book chapter you will write for your final assignment. Be sure to identify the main category and the subcategory for the questions you are answering.


Write about what you choose as the most important category (from Ms. Wrede's list) for World-Building, and why.

Final Story: Write about which method you plan to choose in writing the story or novel chapter for your Term Paper: macrocosm to microcosm (top-down) or microcosm to macrocosm (bottom-up) or a combination. Explain why you choose this pattern.

See http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Constructed_world
for help in understanding these systems of world-building.





I. Category I - Subcategory I: Daily Life->Diet

A. Diet
o What dishes are considered holiday food? What foods/drinks are associated with particular holidays, events (e.g., funerals, weddings) or times of the year?
N/A
o What distinguishes a formal, high-court dinner from an ordinary meal, besides quantity and variety of food? How do high-court manners differ from everyday ones?
Manners differ in that highest nobility in high-court partakes first and then lower ranks afterwards.
o When a guest arrives, is food or drink offered immediately, after an interval, or only on request? Is there a particular food or drink that is customary to offer a newly arrived guest? A guest who is just departing (stirrup cup)?
Depends on which caste (Human Royalty, demons, ghosts or humans) are the guest. Humans are not offered Life Stream. Royalty is offered Life Stream immediately. Life Stream is the only food source (life-extending energy drink).

o Is sanitation good enough for untreated water to be safe to drink? If not, what do people drink instead?
People choose to drink tainted Life Stream because it seems more enjoyable - inserts the desire to have fun from gambling, sex, fighting, drinking, drugs and other vices.
Life Stream uncontaminated at the beginning of time but black powers contaminated it to the liking of all the castes
o What things, while edible, are never eaten (what's not kosher)? Why? Are some common human foods poisonous to dwarves or elves (or vice versa)
Uncontaminated Life Stream is never served or chosen by taboo. People ignorant of its benefits - make live longer with higher quality of health and staying younger looking than with contaminated Life Stream

o Given the magical/technological level of this society, what is an appropriate ration of farmers or food producers to urban residents? If farm production is based on magic, how many urban residents are going to starve if the spells supporting farming (weather, land fertility, etc.) fail suddenly?
Need about six food producers (Juicers) plus one Soul Collector for each juicing (extracting Life Stream and incanting it into acceptable form for intake). 6 juicings per day - 6 dead humans per day. Provides enough Life Stream for one human for 30 days, one demon for ten days, and one royal for 6 days.
Taxation: Lowest rung humans - 50% Life Stream
2nd Tier - 35% Life Stream
3rd Tier - 20% Life Stream
One tier below Demons - 10% Life Stream
If juicing failed, everyone would die except ghosts and demons. Demons would return to underworld and so would ghosts. There are no edible plants or animals on this planet. Juicing Life Stream to keep humans alive was created by a white wizard in order to replace cannibalism by the humans as the only means of providing themselves food.
How many meals are considered normal in a day?
Once every 30 days - humans; once every 10 days - demons; once every 6 days - royalty.
When are they served?
Humans - From a communal trough in central cafeteria. ; Demons - While working - on the job. Royalty - whenever they want. Have it catered to them.
Which are substantial and which are smaller? Are certain foods (e.g., eggs and bacon) reserved mainly for a particular meal?
NA
o What dishes or seasonings would be considered typical of this area? What wines or beers?
NA
o What foods are considered peasant food? What foods are staples, commonly eaten every day? What foods are rare? What foods are normally eaten cooked/raw?
Life Stream only food available. Humans don't have digestive systems or intestinal tracts. Do have kidneys and urinary tract however. Life Stream comes in liquid samples.
o What is the food like? What herbs and spices are readily available, and what must be imported? How common/expensive are imported foods and spices?
It has no taste or odor. It is purely drunk for its nutrition. It gives one an immediate rush of energy followed by a period of feeling good. Royalty nap during this time while humans keep working. Demons don't feel anything else.

o What spices and herbs are produced locally, and which are rare and expensive? Which are most commonly used? Do people tend to like highly spiced food or not?
People don't know what spices and herbs are.
o How is food preserved for use during the off-season -- smoking, canning, salting, drying, etc.?
o
o Stored in glass jars and labeled for when it was extracted and when it will expire. Jars are sealed with cork and demons radiate them with mold and bacteria killing energy rays
o
o How reliable are the methods used -- how often does "preserved" food spoil?
The methods are foolproof. From magic. It never spoils before the expiration date.
When food is in limited supply, who gets first crack?
1) Royalty, 2) Demons, 3)-6) Humans by rungs.
Highest climbers on human rungs are humans with skills and humans with seniority and age.
The laborers and farmers who have to work to produce more, or the children who are the next generation, or the wise and revered elders, or the nobility?
o What foods and seasonings do non-humans like, and how do these differ from those favored by humans? Are some foods poisonous or distasteful to one species that are delicacies or necessary to another?
The Demons subsist on Life Stream, being physical creatures. Humans get more spark from it, but Demons use it for sustenance too. Ghosts are from underworld. They don't partake in drinking Life Stream. They are dead spirit creatures and don't need any sustenance.

o Are there times when people are expected to fast (e.g., before solstice, after the birth of a child, during Lent or Ramadan, after the death of a ruler, etc.)?
o
o Not sure.
o Given the state of roads and transportation, how much food is it possible to ship to a given location before it spoils? (This limits the size of cities.)
Humans die throughout the kingdom so there has to be multiple juicing locations throughout the kingdom. Has hub and spokes type pattern of population.

VI. Commerce, Trade, and Public Life (2)
B. Urban Factors
o How many people are there in this country?
5,000
o How does this compare with world population?
This country is on an island cut off from rest of world transportation-wise.
What is considered a small town/large town/city in terms of number of people?
100
o Is population shifting from rural to urban, south to north, mountains to coast, etc.?
o
o Rural to Urban - There is no point in rural living - there is no farming.
o
o
o Why -- invasion, plague, gold rush, etc.?
o NA
o
o What effects has this had on the places being left?
Rural lands are a barren wasteland.
o The places gaining people?
Getting more crowded. Population increasing faster than there is room for them. Babies created by artificial insemination with life coming from sperm and egg being sparked by Life Stream. Humans gain Life Stream stored in their bodies the longer they live. Demons are speaking of rationing rights to have human births.
Does city layout reflect some philosophy (religious or otherwise), such as that the "head" of the city must be at the center or at the highest point or at the most strategic location?
The royal court is at the top of the hill and surrounded by a dry moat filled with hardened clay spikes. Have to have royalty let down drawbridge in order to get across, and then still have to be let in the city. Royalty city is like a gated community.
Demons never sleep. They wander at night and supervise the humans during the daytime. Makes the humans constantly paranoid. They are assigned outposts at strategic positions all over the island, so that they can keep watch over the humans.
Ghosts travel with the winds. They stay invisible and only manifest themselves when requested to from demons. Demons can't do magic. Ghosts can do limited magic.
Humans live in clay box-like houses - sleeping in the cold; no fires; don't need blankets or sleeping bags; acclimated to this climate.

Or were layout considerations mainly practical? Or did most cities "just grow"?
Most of the human part of the city just grew.
o Are there public or private parks in most/any cities?
Yes. Parent Lords have parks to take children to for recreation hours. Children are allowed to play as reward for doing their training lessons to become good citizens and to learn a skill or trade.
o Are cities generally laid out on a square-grid system of streets, or do they just grow?
They just grow. As more citizens populate the island, vacant housing is becoming scarcer and scarcer. They have a glut of too much Life Stream - the problem.
o How wide are the streets and alleys?
Wide enough to drive the equivalent of a rickshaw through.
What are the landmarks in each city?
The royal court; the prince's throne; the Juice Bank, the House of Live Juicing.
Where are the interesting neighborhoods, like Chinatown or the dwarvish section, and what gives each its special character?
The royal family's gated village is special for being like a capitol of the land.
The Ghosts, even though they move through air or hard substance at will, hang out at a habitat for their kind where they can wail and moan with each other.
Do the neighborhoods have names?
Royal court. Ghost Cloud. Shantyville. Tippler's Row.

o Where do people go to shop?
o
In the Stuffed Jug Village, an outdoor fair with crafts, parchment stories, art, clothes, etc.
Dice and Dolly - bar and house of ill repute

o To eat? NA
o To have fun? - Dice and Darlings, Tippler and Snifter Row,
o To do "touristy" things? NA
o What sorts of goods/food/entertainment are available in large cities that are not available in the country?

NA
V. Social Organization (3)
A. Crime and the Legal System
o How has the presence of magic and magicians affected law and government?
o Demons are physical beings that run the government. They have magical power that affects humans physically. Ghosts have magic power to affect them mentally. Demons are the policemen of the system but serve as government officials too, and in every area of supervision and management. Hierarchy of demons exists with top members answering directly to prince. Will have scenes of prince communicating (via magic) with black wizard to get instructions.
o
o Are wizards barred from certain kinds of government jobs or offices (judge, jury, police)?
My wizards are based off-island. They can only affect the planet by sending messengers (physical beings) to do their will on the planet. Messengers for white wizard and demons for black.
o Do some government jobs require that their holder be a wizard?
No. The management and supervisory ones can only be filled by demons, although they have magic powers like a wizard. Same for Messengers.
o What are considered normal and legal ways of gathering evidence and determining guilt?
Humans are spied on all the time by ghosts and are never more than an arms length away from a demon.
o
o Is torture allowed?
o
o Yes. Torture by demons is allowed. Live juicing or beating with batons.
o
o Are arbitrary judgments by the lord or landowner allowed, or is there an independent standard of justice?
Arbitrary judgments by royalty allowed. Also have independent standards of justice at lower levels of humans.
o What personal weapons are available to anyone who can afford them?
o
o
Sickles for humans - fighting as recreation - bar-fights as well boxing and street-fighting:
o Dueling by slave gladiators with slingshots which they use firing magic temperature-based (hot or cold) entities (like balls of fire) fired back and forth at each other.

o Are some considered "for nobles only" either by custom or by law?
o
o Yes. Nobles have spears and lances they can joust from (without horses as there are no animals on the planet) from a running start
o
o Are there laws forbidding certain classes from being armed at all?
o
o Lowest rung of humans are slaves. They are forbidden any weapons except for their bare hands. Good at hand-to-hand combat. Mix of boxing and martial arts.
o
o Are there laws requiring certain classes to learn particular weapon skills, as England for some centuries required yeomen to be proficient with the longbow?
o
Demons have to know how to use their magical staffs but they are born with the knowledge - don't need to be trained.
o Is forensic magic possible?
o
o Yes.
o
o Commonly used?
o
o Yes. It is used to extract the Life Stream from the dying body.
o
o Used only for certain types of crimes (and if so, what)? Used at all deaths.
o
o Are the results of forensic spells admissible in court as evidence? Yes. The amount of Life Stream extracted can be used to settle civil suits where different parties think the deceased owes them Life Stream at their time of death.
o
o Is it something any wizard can do, or do you have to specialize?
Not done by wizards. Done by demons whose specialty is this. Messengers will also do this when they appear. Messengers can shroud their juicings from black powers.
o Are certain spells (as opposed to magic generally) illegal?
o
Spells to remove the contamination from the Life Stream.
o Why -- because of the effect of the spell, or because of the ingredients or procedures needed to cast it, or what?
o
o The black wizard is ruling the continent. His enemy is the white wizard who originally ruled the continent by transforming cannibalism into feeding humans from humans through clean Life Stream - where perfect health and youthful looks are the result. Black powers want sin and the worship of the islanders. White wants same thing. They are enemies.
o
o If so, how would a criminal magician be detected?
o
o A criminal magician wouldn't be detected. The upper core of the government - demons and royals - would learn of a crop of pure Life Stream appearing.
o
o Apprehended?
o
o Need to infiltrate the lower levels at which the pure stuff is appearing. The assignment they will give Crump in place of finishing the second half of his life juicing sentence.
o
o Punished?
o
They would be tortured for information and until they are dead. Messengers would just be deported.
o Is catching and punishing illegal magicians the responsibility of the magician's guild, or do the ordinary courts have to handle it?
Demons responsible for disciplining both themselves and ghosts. All creatures answerable to the black wizard except for the Messengers.
o Are there separate civil and criminal courts?
o
Yes. Crump is sued for back Life Stream he owes from gambling debts and has to be juiced alive to pay the debt to his debtor.
Criminal courts are there for each tier of humans to discipline themselves, with demons looking on.
Human and non-human courts?
o
o Courts are only there for humans. Captured Messengers sent off-island. Demons don't have courts. If they make a mistake black wizard will discipline them. Ghosts don't have courts.
o
o Is there a separate court or procedure for magical crimes?
o
o Yes. Pure Life Stream. Ghosts can be used as witnesses in courts run by demons for humans. They can tell whether a human is telling the truth or not.
o
o What is different about each type of court?
o
o At top rung of humans - a court of humans against humans judges stealing, killing, rape, and other normal crimes against humans of all tiers. Humans allowed to try and judge other humans. Only cases where Life Stream is involved will the demons preside over.
o
o Are judges or other court officials required/forbidden to know magic?
o
Demons know physical magic.

o Is evidence obtained by magic acceptable in court?
o
o Yes
o
o Is evidence obtained by magic considered more reliable or less reliable than physical evidence or eyewitness accounts?
More. Infallible.
o What things are considered truly serious crimes and why? (E.g., in a trade-oriented culture, counterfeiting might be a death-penalty crime, while in a place where life is cheap, murder might be something you pay a small fine for.)
Using or trading pure Life Stream
o What are the normal punishments for serious vs. minor crimes?
o
o Serious crimes - death. Medium crimes - live juicing Minor crimes - behavior oriented sentences - sentenced to serve a term doing something.
o
o Are there prisons, or are people punished and released? There are no prisons.
o Are there degrees of punishment -- branding vs. cutting off ears vs. cutting off a hand vs. decapitation -- or do they just hang everybody?
They either juice you dead, juice you alive, or let you off with a minor sentence.
o Who is responsible for catching criminals? Ghosts find the criminals and demons are in charge of flushing them out and catching them for Life Stream crimes.
For regular crimes, humans have their own police force which cooperates with demons.

o Who pays the crook-catchers - the city government, a consortium of merchants, somebody else? -
o
o The black magician through the ruler (the evil prince), How are they organized -- into independent police precincts, or into overlapping districts, or just according to whoever wants to hire them? Have a central police force answerable to royals.
o
o
Are they full-time, part-time, or volunteers? Always on duty
o
o Private or public? NA What sort of facilities do they have? A gathering place for spirits to mingle - Ghost World; demons need to sleep and drink (Life Stream) - physical minions from hell; have physical needs. Have deluxe housing made for them - from soft clay that is rare on island that serves as excellent insulation for them

o What arms are the allowed to carry? - demons: magical batons
Human police: non-magical batons

o Are there lawyers or advocates?
o
o Yes. Advocates. More of a negotiator rather than one trying to find guilt or innocence. Guilt is presumed if the case gets this far.
Who can afford them?
o
o Available for every human.
o
o Who trains/certifies them? One of careers top rung humans can go into.
o Are people guilty until proven innocent, innocent until proven guilty, or does it depend on the mood the lord is in when they bring the case before him? Considered guilty before innocent if case gets to court stage.
o
o Are there judges other than the ruler, lord, or landowner?
o
o A demon is the judge in Life Stream cases. Human judges in regular crimes..
o
o If so, how are they chosen, how are they paid, and who pays them? Demons decide among themselves who will serve where doing what. They decide who will be human judges too.
o
o Are appeals possible, and if so, to whom? No
o
o How often are outlying areas likely to see a judge? Small island. Courts and judges available to all.
o
o Is "mob justice" common or uncommon? Will rise up during book.
o
o Approved of or disapproved of? Will be new. Prince will want to put down rebellion as will demons. Humans will be mixed and some of them will take the part of soldiers in trying to shut it down. However, they will not take the side of the demons and royalty in killing their own kind.
Are there sumptuary laws regulating what different classes/races may wear? No
o Do judges and lawyers wear special clothes (robes, wigs) to indicate their calling? No
o Are wizards above or below the law -- i.e., do they have full rights as citizens, no rights, or can they do as they like without regard to anyone else's rights? Above
o
o Are highwaymen, muggers, and pirates common or rare? What sorts of crimes is the average citizen likely to run across during his/her lifetime?
Takes place frequently. Humans drinking contaminated Life Stream are tainted with an ingredient tempting them to break the law and do wrong.
o Who can make or repeal laws -- a group (an elected Senate, an appointed Council, or a hereditary House of Lords), or only the ruler or head of state?
o
o The prince.
o
o How much can the nobility, middle class tradesmen, etc. influence the laws that are made?
Demons can influence prince with news of the current events going on in his kingdom. Humans have to influence demons. Other nobility can influence prince too.
o How are alleged criminals treated before and after their convictions? Poorly.
o
o Does the police/military/city guard make a practice of roughing up suspects, or is this frowned upon? Demons treat harshly. Use magic baton to make them obey.


NOTES:
Main conflict in the story will be over whether Crump chooses contaminated Life Stream where he is allowed to sin or pure Life Stream where he lives the life of an angel.
He will be sentenced to being a spy to flesh out Messengers juicing random hits. He will seem ready to turn them in but will have a change of heart because he thinks so much of the "white" people. He will join them, only to later be tempted to go back to the dark, which he does. This endangers all his "white friends". At the end he will end his life going white to save them.
Messengers will have power to shroud or conceal their juicing of Pure Life Stream from black powers. They will hit and miss in guerilla fashion different stations where people die and need to be juiced. The theme here is that people don't want to be perfect - sinless - while they are allowed. Only after they are dead?
Demons will have magic batons which they can use as an invisible staff to hit humans, to use as a way to shut humans up or make them talk, a way to cause great pain (including torture. They will also have ability to threaten to take humans to black (to be a ghost) after they die. Otherwise, the human would just go to sleep.
Ghosts are miserable. They are spies for demons and lie-detector tests. Can only interact mentally and spiritually with beings of island.
Large quantities of Life Stream taken at one time makes them high as well as giving them long life. That's why nobles and demons tax at such high rates despite having enough extra to keep them alive.
Babies born on pure Life Stream immortal. Invincible to attacks from black side as long as they don't partake of the contaminated Life Stream.



III. Magic and Magicians(5)
A. Rules of Magic
o What things can magic not do?

Magic can't bring a character back to life. Demons: Magic can't affect Messengers and vice versa. Demon magic can't affect those born on pure Life Stream unless or until they drink the contaminated stuff. Demons can tempt those on pure Life Stream but can't contaminate it. Likewise Messengers can only offer pure Life Stream, can't go against subjects will.
Demons: Magic can cause physical pain to humans up to the point of killing them - with preparation of juicing them at the same time. It can throw them across the room, give them a headache, and beat them up physically - cause physical pain.
Messengers: Magic can take away temptation to do sinful things for Life Stream"virgins" through administering pure Life Stream. Makes clean living enjoyable rather than empty. Those who are converts are always in danger of being tempted back. Need a spiritual program to stay pure.
o
o What are the limits to magical power?
o
o Magic used for live juicing. Also used for extracting life force from dying humans and incanting it into Life Stream.
Magic can create spark of life in test tube babies to create life in them - from both sides.
Ghosts can infiltrate areas humans occupy but can only tell on humans in the form of witnesses being questioned by demons.
o How do magicians try to get around these limits?
Demons try to infiltrate and spy on human suspects using traditional means: human spies, ghosts and their own police.
Messengers put up shields so that demons can't detect them. Block out ghosts too. They can juice dying subjects as well as create immortal babies. These babies are outcasts among the traditional boarding houses so Messengers raise them themselves. These babies will grow into humans that are always outcasts; their purpose in life is to overthrow the black powers.

o What is the price magicians must pay in order to be magicians -- years of study, permanent celibacy, using up bits of their life or memory with each spell, etc.?
o
o Demons and Messengers are created with these powers. Ghosts suffer their powers as part of their fate.
o
o Does anyone ever try to get around the price of magic?
NA
o Is there a difference between miracles and magic? If so, how are they distinguished?
Creating life in a test tube baby could be considered as a miracle rather than magic. The conception itself is a miracle although Life Stream provides the impetus for that first breath.
o Where does magic power come from: the gods, the "mana" of the world, the personal willpower of the magician?
o
The wizards off-island.

o Is magic an exhaustible resource?
o
o No.
o
o If a magician must feed his spells with his own willpower, life-force, or sanity, what long-term effects will this have on the health and/or stability of the magician? NA
o
o Do different races/species have different sources for their magic, or does everybody use the same one?
White powers have source of white wizard. Black powers have source of black wizard. Ghosts are just presences allowed to exist.
o How does a magician tap his/her magic power?
o Demons use their magic baton and sometime say words from black language; sometimes don't need to.
Messengers just touch subject of magic with their index finger.
o
o Does becoming a magician require some rite of passage (investing one's power in an object, being chosen by the gods, constructing or being given a permanent link to the source of power) or does it just happen naturally, as a gradual result of much study or as a part of growing up?
It is part of the creation of Messengers and demons.
o What do you need to do to cast a spell -- design an elaborate ritual, recite poetry, mix the right ingredients in a pot?
o
o See previous.
o
o Are there things like a staff, a wand, a familiar, a crystal ball, which are necessary to have before casting spells?
o
o
o Demons need their batons.
o
o If so, where and how do new wizards get these things? Hell.
o
o Do they make them, buy them from craftsmen, inherit them from their teachers, or order them from Wizardry Supplies, Inc.?NA
o
o Is there a numerical limit to the number of wizards in the world? What is it? Why? Generally as many as are needed are released from hell to do what's needed to be done. Number of Messengers decided by white wizard in a strategic, tactical manner to conduct a guerilla war on the black powers on the island.


o How long does it take to cast a spell? Instant.
o
o Can spells be stored for later, instant use?
o
o Yes. Life Stream is stored in flasks to be stored at the Bank.
o
o Does working spells take lots of long ritual, or is magic a "point and shoot" affair? Point and shoot affair.
o
o Can two or more wizards combine their power to cast a stronger spell, or is magic done only by individuals? Messengers only work individually.
o
o Ghosts can combine powers to cast stronger spells such as how to read the body language of humans being interrogated for truth before demon knows whether to torture for information.
o
o What makes one wizard more powerful than another -- knowledge of more spells, ability to handle greater levels of power, having a more powerful god as patron, etc.? All the same .
o
o Does practicing magic have any detrimental effect on the magician (such as becoming addictive, fomenting insanity, or shortening life-span)? NO
o
o If so, is there any way to prevent these effects? NA
o
o Are the effects inevitable to all magicians, or do they affect only those with some sort of predisposition? Do they progress at the same rate in everyone? Are they universal in all species, or are some races (dwarves, elves, whoever) immune to these detrimental effects?NA0
o
o How much is known about the laws of nature, physics, and magic?
o
o In a feudal society. Laws of nature during Dark Period known - very little science or math sought. Physics at level of Greeks.
They exist in a model solar system in the same universe and believe they are the only populated life forms in the universe. They don't know of wizards - white or black - other than through old wives tales. They consider demons and Messengers as life forms that are not connected to wizards. I will not let on about the existence of the wizards until the end.

o How much of what is commonly known is wrong (e.g., Aristotle's ideas about human anatomy, which were wrong but accepted for centuries)?
They believe the earth is flat. They believe they are the only population center on the planet.
They have their own astrological science and read fortunes from it - which they use to help decide how much Life Stream anyone is due.

o What general varieties of magic are practiced (e.g., herbal potions, ritual magic, alchemical magic, demonology, necromancy, etc.)?
o
o Just what I've said so far.

o Do any work better than others, or does only one variety actually work?
Messengers magic is more potent in sense that black magic can't change those born under pure Life Stream. Messengers can also cloak the demons from finding them for a short while. This is why the demons need Crump to infiltrate them.
Other than babies, Messengers can only offer pure Life Stream as a source. Will use Crump as a double agent to recruit new members serving the Messengers.

o Are certain kinds of magic practiced solely or chiefly by one sex or the other? Demons and Messengers both come from both sexes. Same as ghosts.
o
o By one race or another? Already covered.
o
o Is this because of inborn ability, natural preferences, or legislation? Inborn ability.
o
o Does a magician's magical ability or power change over time -- e.g., growing stronger or weaker during puberty, or with increasing age? NO
o
o Can a magician "use up" all of his/her magic, thus ceasing to be a magician? NO
o
o If this happens, what does the ex-magician do -- die, retire, take up teaching, go into a second career, start a freelance consulting business? NA
o
Can the ability to do magic be lost? If so, how -- overdoing it, "burning out," brain damage due to fever or a blow, etc. NO
o Can the ability to work magic be taken away? NO If so, how and by whom? (Traditional example: certain spells that can only be worked by virgins; raping such a witch robbed her of her powers.)



Physical and Historical Features(6)

World History
o How far back are there records or tales of historical events?
1200 years.
o
o How widely known are these stories?
As many historians as you can count on one hand know of the most secret ones. Records of noblemen well advertised - genealogies, battles, jousts, and marriages, punishments (relative sent to dungeon or beheaded).
o Do average people believe old tales, or do they dismiss some that have a basis in fact (e.g., Troy)?
They believe old tales.
o How long have there been people on this world?
o 1200 years.
Did they evolve, were they created by the gods, or did they migrate from somewhere else?
Demons and Messengers created by wizards. They emigrated from an unknown physical-spiritual location.
If there are non-humans, how long have they been around and where did they come from? 1200 years - Messengers.
800 years - demons.
o How similar is the history and culture of an alternate earth to real history and culture? Why is it similar/different?
People can live forever. They have a choice whether to live a clean, wholesome life for literal eternity or to live a more fun kind of sinful life. They will end up being able to go back and forth.
People don't eat. Only have a stomach, kidneys and urinary tract. No system for digesting solid matter. Size of island they live on has a population the size of a city - keeps the empire a manageable size.
There are no plants or animals on this planet.
Human beings ruled and influenced by physically embodied spirit creatures. Not free to do what they want. Have to live within semi-afterlife environment.
o Where did civilization begin?
o
o The only knowledge of civilization they have, and only the few historians knew of it, was when the white wizard cast a spell to keep humans alive through transference of life providing Life Stream replacing cannibalism.
o
o What directions did it spread?
o
o
o Humans have built boats and sailed away, but had to come back in time to get more Life Stream. Couldn't go too far away. No reports of other islands or land masses.
o
o How was its development affected by the presence of magic?
o
o Completely affected by magic. The population was controlled by demons through magic. Demons controlled the technology regulating research and invention, to only let advances acceptable to them exist. Controlling quantities and qualities of Life Stream distributed to humans, themselves and royalty also gave them the power to eliminate those entrepreneurs or scientists who created entities that they felt was a threat to the land.
o
o History consisted of white wizard being underdone by the black magic 800 years ago. Since then, demons inserted themselves into all the key positions to man the island. Introduction of contaminated Life Stream gained its own steam and demons influenced all humans to partake of contaminated Life Stream with Messengers and white powers not present.

o The presence of non-human races, if any? Ghosts and demons and Messengers.
o
o The actions or direct interventions of the gods? Black wizard inserted demons and contaminated Life Stream. White wizard strikes back with guerilla warfare 800 years later.
o
o Which peoples/countries/races have traditionally fought, allied, traded, or been rivals?
o
o Messengers and Demons. Black and white wizards. Royalty with themselves.
o Where are there still hard feelings about old events?
Humans feel angry and resentful at being ruled to the point of virtual enslavement against the demons.
o Which peoples/countries/races have been in conflict in the recent past?
o
o Humans by Messengers against human police by demons. Demons and Messengers.
o
o Why? When and why was the most recent war? 800 years ago. Black although white has begun a guerilla war. Who won? Black
o
o Which peoples/etc. are considered the most civilized? Top rung humans. Out of 4. Which are most technologically advanced? Demons and royalty.
o Which are most magically advanced? Demons; Messengers.
o
o Least advanced? Slaves. Why? Considered lowest life form.
o
o Is there a single, generally accepted calendar (including time measurements), or do different countries or peoples or races have different ones?
Single accepted calendar.
o How many languages are there? Demons have one. Humans and royalty have one. Messengers have one. Royalty has their own dialect of common language. Messenger and demon home languages are not the common language used on the island. Only for praying.
o
o Which ones are related (e.g., the Romance languages) and why? Messenger and Demon languages off-shoots of common languages.
o
o Which languages borrow words or phrases from other languages? Royals.
o
o Which is likely to be most widely spoken?
o Common by humans.
o
o Is there a "trade language" that facilitates commerce between countries that don't speak the same tongue? No. Is there a "universal language" spoken by educated or noble persons, as Latin was in the Middle Ages? Common language ("English") is universal language.